The Great CD Purge

Why in the name of god do I still own some of this stuff?
When is the last time I listened to this?
Do I even remember what crap is on this?
Holy crap I still have that?
My god, what was I thinking?

If you find yourself asking one, if not all of these questions repeatedly, you might also be in the midst of a CD purge.

Please see a doctor immediately as you may be causing severe back problems from lugging them around all over the place.


So, having three cd cases, cds in my room, computer room, car, and work bag, and two Avon boxes of jewel cases has helped me to decide it was time for the Great CD Purge of 2007.
Oh and the fact my computer is dead and I am recording everything I used to have on there onto JoVanna's computer is kinda helping the process...

...and delaying it as I have to listen to everything to decide if I want it, and which songs I wish to record before dropping the cd in the:

'To Take To Slackers' Pile
'Cd's i think someone else has' Pile
'Cd's I don't think are mine' Pile
'Crap nobody in their right mind would pay good money for' Pile
'Use as target practice' Pile
'Recorded Cd's someone else might want' Pile

To Take To Slackers Pile

Slackers, for those of you not from the Columbia area, is like Record Exchange or Vintage Vinyl in St Louis. For those of you not from the Columbia or St Louis area, those are CD trade places. The difference in this case is that I know a person at Slackers. A manager person. She takes good care of me when I visit her store. I imagine I might make a bit more in trade there then I would make somewhere else. Items in this pile include: (so far)

• Bare Jr Sampler
• Beastie boys Anthology The Sounds of Science Disc 2
• Beverly Hills Cop III Soundtrack
• Blues Traveler Live From The Fall
• Butthole Surfers Pepper Single
• Cibo Matto Stereo Type A
• Harry Connick Jr. She
• Craig David Born To Do It
• Daft Punk Around The World Single
• FireWalk Light A Fire
• The Fold Feeling Like Failure Now
• Guano Apes Proud Like A God
• Sophie B Hawkins Whaler
• Incubus Stellar Single
• Kottonmouth Kings Royal Highness
• Metallica Unforgiven II Single
• Metallica Memory Remains Single
• The Steve Miller Band Greatest Hits 1974-1978
• Moby Play
• Mudhoney Piece Of Cake
• Jimmy Page & Robert Plant No Quarter
• Pearl Jam Vitalogy
• Phantom of The Opera Highlights Broadway Cast
• Postal Service Give Up
• Qkumba Zoo Child Inside Single
• R.E.M. Great Beyond Single
• R.E.M. Monster
• Rage Against The Machine Killing In The Name Of Single
• Rush Test For Echo
• Joe Satriani Time Machine
• Save Ferris I'm Not Cryin For You Single
• Squirrel Nut Zippers Hot
• Steppenwolf 16 Greatest Hits
• Type O Negative Cinnamon Girl Single
• Wedding Singer Soundtrack
• Weezer Blue Album
• Peter White Glow

If any of you want one or more of these, let me know, I'll find out how much I can get on trade for them, and sell them to you instead for that price!


Cd's I think someone else has Pile

I think some people I know have these, but I haven't a clue who...If you do, any chance of returning them? Please?

• Guns N' Roses Appetite For Destruction
• Animal House Soundtrack
• No Doubt Tragic Kingdom
• Elvis #1 Hits
• Tool Aenima

I would love to have each and every one of these back. All five great cds...

Cd's I don't think are mine Pile

I bet some other people want these back as badly as I'd like mine back, let me know if you think one of them is yours...

• Mr Holland's Opus Soundtrack
• 311
• Stone Temple Pilots Core

Recorded Cd's Someone else might want Pile

Lots of these I recorded from other sources. I have now downloaded them to my computer, and have no desire to listen to them as just the cd's they are. Any of you want them? Let me know...

Actually this list is too long, I'll post it another time...

Deuces,

Dave

Belief-O-Matic

Belief-O-Matic!

The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches my beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that my views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa. Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with my professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with my thinking.

1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Secular Humanism (94%)
3. Liberal Quakers (92%)
4. Neo-Pagan (85%)
5. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (79%)
6. New Age (77%)
7. Nontheist (69%)
8. Theravada Buddhism (68%)
9. Taoism (64%)
10. Mahayana Buddhism (61%)
11. Reform Judaism (57%)
12. Bahá'í Faith (52%)
13. Orthodox Quaker (52%)
14. New Thought (47%)
15. Scientology (45%)
16. Jainism (41%)
17. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (37%)
18. Orthodox Judaism (35%)
19. Sikhism (31%)
20. Islam (27%)
21. Hinduism (27%)
22. Seventh Day Adventist (27%)
23. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (23%)
24. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (21%)
25. Eastern Orthodox (18%)
26. Roman Catholic (18%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (13%)

Interesting that the top two and the second to last are the ones that I have considered myself at various points of my life.

Pick of the Week!

Sarcastic Dialectician For Hire.

Everyone knows I'm pretty sarcastic at times...

The 'Dialectic' part though, I'm sure most people would call me, if they knew what it meant. I'm not questioning any ones intelligence here or anything! I swear. I'm the last person to poke fun for not knowing what words mean. (Or how to pronounce them...who knew cacophony wasn't pronounced cak-o-fone-ee)

Dialectic - the art or practice of arriving at the truth by the exchange of logical arguments.

I'm amazed at how well I believe this word fits me. I enjoy using logic in an exchange of arguments to arrive at the truth. I also think a dialectic conversation is a great way to fully understand another person's views on given subjects.

I've also learned, within the fairly recent past, that this method of reaching understanding between two people can't always work. In fact, unless it's with another Dialectician, it almost never works. I've wondered why in the past, some of the people I argue with, I become better friends with, and some, worse friends. I think I've realized now that some people argue/discuss to reach the truth. Some to be heard, some to be understood, some to get things off of their chest. I think, now that I have learned this, I can become better friends with everyone I argue/discuss with by figuring out what their desire is behind the argument, not just the point they are arguing/discussing.

The funny thing is, I only found the word dialectic while looking for a word to rhyme with eclectic. Strange, eh? Finding one word that describes me by trying to rhyme with another word that fits me like a glove. Hence the web address for this blog: dialecticeclectic.blogspot.com. Describes me well, except for the blogspot.com part. There was only so much I could do there. I could probably B.S. something to make that describe me, too ,but I'm not feeling that creative right now.

And now, the segue into...

The Pick of The Week!!

Wyclef Jean - The Ecleftic

I was flipping through the Starz channels, looking for things I wanted to Tivo, and I came across ' Wyclef Jean's All-Star Jam @ Carnegie Hall ' on Starz-Black. This concert for charity (music education for inner city youth) included artists like Eric Clapton (yeah!), Stevie Wonder (sweet!), Destiny's Child (eh), Charlotte Church (strange), Mary J Blige (awesome), one of Marley's boys (good), and a bunch of teens called Clef's kids who play exceptional music for their age. They only showed about an hour of the show on the TV, but there is a DVD that has the whole thing (Xmas present??)

Now, I've had a CD called Wyclef Jean - The Ecleftic for a couple of years now, and it is awesome. I'm not sure which came first, the concert or the cd, but the have some songs in common. Good songs:

Wish You Were Here (pink Floyd cover)
911 (with Mary J Blige)

There are also a few that are older Clef songs (remakes, I know) that I like a lot:

Guantanamera
No Woman, No Cry
Gone Til November
Maria, Maria

And new remakes/collaborations:

Summertime w/Charlotte Church
Stayin Alive w/Rock Steady Crew
Now That We Found Love w/Third World
Wonderful Tonight w/Eric Clapton

And a new song he and Clapton wrote, called 'My Song'

And a few songs done by the Clef Kids:

Amazing Grace
Bach Medley
Lift Every Heart & Sing

The only bad part is that, for some reason, they had Destiny's Child doing Independent Woman & Say My Name. That was strange.

So, check them out. Either the Wycleftic CD, or the All-Stars DVD. They are awesome!

Counting My Blessings

As I'm on my way out the door to go join the old folks at the ARC, I figured I'd count a few of my blessings, as far as this current weight shift is concerned.

1) Support structure at home

JoVanna has been a huge help to me. She enjoys cooking, and now the two of us can work together to make meals that are tasty, healthy, and more importantly, made for two in the first place! As far as meats go, I can only cook hot dogs & fish. That's it. Now I can have chicken, beef, pork, turkey, it's awesome! Wow, variety in foods!

2) Support structure outside the home

The family has been a huge help, all talking to each other to remind each other about the goal. Its like having some people to whom I am responsible towards. I have also let most everyone know at work. That way, I have some help there whenever I get a craving for one of the many things I walk by on a given day at the grocery store. I must say, if you are ever trying to seriously lose weight, try not to work at a grocery store. While, I admit, I have better access to fresh produce and meats and lots of other items that are good for you, I also have Swiss Cake Rolls staring me in the face everyday. Why is that the one thing I look at and think, Damn, those look good. Of everything I could have huge cravings for, that's the one thing. How weird.

3) Liking a wider variety of foods.

The only veggies I used to like were carrots and peas. Now it carrots, peas, corn, asparagus, green beans, snopeas, lima beans, lettuce, and even sprouts are ok. I used to only like hot dogs and McDonald's hamburgers. Now I'll eat fish, steak, ham, polish sausage, chicken, turkey, etc. I unfortunately still can't fathom a way to get into diet sodas. But, I have cut those down to one a day at most. 1-12 ounce can that is. Not some giant liter bottle.

4) Having a workout facility so close to home.

The Columbia ARC (Activities & Recreation Center) is a godsend. I don't have to worry about traffic on campus or downtown. I have no trouble finding a machine ever. I think it has a lot to do with my unbalanced schedule, though. Being able to go work out at 10am some days, 6:30pm others, and 2pm still others helps a lot. Avoids the big 7am and 5pm rushes!

5) Staying away from alcohol

YIKES. I know. It's tough. REALLY TOUGH. How does one walk away from the nectar of the gods, good beer. I've done some research, and not only is alcohol usually calorie laden (at least my good beers, Blue Moon 170cal, most dark beers 150-200cal), but it disrupts the body's ability to burn fat. They say the safe amount of alcohol in a week considering my size, age, and gender is ten a week, 2 a day with 2 off days. No banking the alcohol for the end of the week though. So I could have a couple of beers a day, but, its best to stay away from the calorie laden drinks. Siiigggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

6) The knowledge I've done it before, so i can do it again

Freshman year of college, instead of gaining the dreaded Freshman Fifteen, I lost 30! My activity level just soared when I moved up here to Columbia. I dropped all the way to 230 lbs that year. My junior year, I had made a New Year's resolution, and was sticking to it quite well until I broke my hand. Lost 25 lbs from New Year's to mid march. For Mike & Tracy's wedding I lost about 15-20 lbs just increasing activity and trying the psycho diet. That psycho diet sucked. Sucked hard. Can you imagine a diet making you hate one of your favorite foods? Eggs. I love eggs. I hated eggs on that diet.

Well, like I said, off to beat an old man off of my treadmill.

First Goal Acheived!

5%!!!

First goal achieved, and about two weeks faster than hoped. Here's the goal layout...

9/19/07 - 10/26/07 First 5% - 17 lbs ( 37 days )

10/26/07 - 12/15/07 Second 5% 34 lbs, down to 306. ( 51 days )

12/15/07 - 01/04/07 Maintain. Do as little damage as possible over this period of time.

01/05/07 - Valentine's Day Third 5%, now down to 289. ( 61 days )

Valentine's - St. Patty's Ten lbs. Be careful on Patty's!!! Down to 279. ( 32 days, toughest stretch! Gotta pull this of to be able to let myself have a good time on St Patty's Day)

St. Patty's - My Bday Ten lbs. Down to 269. ( 51 days )

My Bday - 4th of July 11 lbs. Down to 258. ( 58 days )

82 lbs in ten months. It's a tough goal. And don't get me wrong, I'd be plenty happy with not reaching the final goal at all. I'm not even sure if it is possible. At my size, I might have too much of a frame and therefore, too much muscle to drop that far. I'll be seeing a doctor at some point to get a better idea of what I'm actually capable of, too.

I know I'm placing quite a bit into the numbers, but its the lifestyle change I am interested in. More on that another time.

Off to get some breakfast,

'Not quite as big' Big Dave

Promises, promises...

Wow. I'm big in this picture. (and thanks to Jason Conaway, felt up as well...)

Since this time I have been making sure I eat a little better at times, without ever really making a concerted effort on all fronts to do so, hence failure.

Along rolls all of the summer months...

Avoiding the pool...

Trying to find larger t-shirts to wear to softball games...

And finally, along comes a vacation in September.

During part of my vacation, I made sure I went to the SJA Homecoming!! For those of you who don't know, it's pretty cool. It's not the best party in the world, especially when you aren't as interested in getting stinking drunk in public anymore. But, I get to see lots of people I used to know, play some fair games, eat some fair food, and even play a little Bingo.

During the fair, my cousins brought up to my immediate family that some of them were going to begin a contest. A weight loss contest. Whoever loses the most after a certain period of time wins a pool of money that everyone puts together. Everyone in my family seemed interested, myself especially. I knew it was time to buckle down.

So here I am at the computer trying to decide the best way to continue my current weight loss success. I had to have lost some weight since that picture in March, but not a ton. I have lost (I personally believe) at least twenty pounds since the beginning of September. I have lost a confirmed 15 lbs since 9/12/07.



I haven't hit a wall or anything like that, but I want to do everything I reasonably can to change my lifestyle and habits in regards to food.

Many publications and websites suggest may different diet fads, exercise tips, and non-traditional methods to lose weight. Personally, I have my own plan. Nothing new, or untried I'm sure, but one that I think will work for me.

1) Count calories
2) Work Out
3) Stay Busy

1) Count Calories

According to a lot of the research I have been doing, the sure fire way to lose weight: Burn more than you eat. Doable! But how many am I supposed to eat? Ahh, there is where some differentiating opinions lie. I am using a website called my-calorie-counter.com to determine that starting point. It's a free site, too!

They say for my height (6'6") and current weight (as of 10/11/07, 325ish) and a sedentary lifestyle, to take in 3477 calories a day to maintain my weight. They also say 3500 calories is equal to a pound. So, if I cut 500 calories a day, that would be a pound a week. 1000 cals, 2 lbs, etc. Ahh, but that is for a sedentary lifestyle. For a moderately active lifestyle, 4497 calories a day.

I currently treadmill 3-5 times a week, and do Free motion weights 3 times a week (at best, trying to get more regular!) I also work in a job where I am on the go for quite a bit of the day. I stock, lift heavy objects, and walk a ton throughout my day at work. So I'd say a moderately active lifestyle is at least where I'm at if not better.

So, conclusion? If I maintain my moderately active lifestyle and cut 2000 calories a day, I can still eat 2497 calories a day and lose up to 4 lbs a week. That's doable. That's measurable. And that's what I like, a doable, measurable achievement.

2) Work out

I treadmill about 40 minutes each time I go, burning about 600-650 calories each time. I have reached inclines of 9 with speeds of 3.6. I'm aware that isn't very fast, it still isn't a run. But, I am starting out with something I know I can keep up with. Besides, my knees can't take running on a treadmill yet. I gotta start somewhere.

I free motion about 10 different machines. Squat, chest, row, quad, lat, shoulder, hamstring, bicep, triceps, and abdominal. I worked out at Gold's Gym for a while back before Mike & Tracy's wedding, and the instructor there started me out with these machines as a circuit training of sorts for losing weight. I am going to stick with those for now because, I gotta start somewhere.

3) Stay Busy

Work, possibly taking classes again soon, blossoming relationship, and a new nephew are doing a pretty good job of keeping me busy. Add in trying to change careers in the near future, moving again in August, and trying to keep up with tons of friends who have now moved all over the globe keeps me pretty busy. Forget golf and reading. Those have taken a bit of a back seat lately, and I will welcome them back when the time is there. I tend to eat or drink too much when I am doing those activities. So, that's why I am back to blogging. Many publications suggest keeping a workout/diet log, so this is going to partially be mine. Also I'd love to get back to expressing my views are various topics. Especially with the primaries coming up soon!

I know, I know, I've said I was going to be back to blogging a couple of other times, but, this promise, like the one I've made to myself about the weight loss, I intend to keep.

'Not quite as big' Big Dave

Official Baby Crowe Pool Entry Form

Complete the following and email back to Tracy

1. Gender - Female
2. Name - Avery
3. Length - 21 inches
4. Weight (be kind – it’ll make you brownie points) - 7lbs 11oz
5. Date of Birth (Due 6/6 – see note on #4) - 6/5 (because if we place the date in European form it would be 5/6/7, which just does it for me.
6. Time of Birth - 10:13 AM
7. Length of Labor (in hours) - 2.754
8. Hair or no? - Yes, about the amount Mike is losing…
9. Eye color - Blue (even possible? Last time I had biology was..jaysus over 10 years ago.)
10. Number of people in the waiting room - 12, but I would bet the over.

Bonus Question:
Lady’s reaction to the baby ________________________________
a. disdain
b. completely ignores
c. happily greets at the door
d. other – please specify. ____Happily greets at the door, thinking you are carrying a parcel of food, followed by confusion, moping about, and then disdain due to the amount of times the baby will be fed compared to her. _______________________

Equal Pay for Equal Play

Now, I'm a pretty liberal guy. I believe in the equality of things. A black man must have the same chances as a white man. An American Indian woman should have the same opportunities as a white woman. A man on crutches, or sick of the palsey should be paid the same as a healthy man assuming the work is done and time put in.

If I had the palsey, I'd be pretty sick of it, too....

And a woman should have the same pay as a man.

So long as they are doing the same amount of work!

Equal Pay is an issue in the job place, I understand that. But it isn't always a black and white issue (no pun intended). If a woman who joins a company wishes to have equal pay to a man who has been with the company for ten years, is that right? I would understand the differential in pay, even if they are in the same relative position. You reward loyalty. Or the man started out at a certain amount of money and has received pay raises for exemplary performance.

Say Jimbo Smith works a thirty hour week. He can't quite be there for forty hours because he has a second job.

Say Jane Eyre has a forty an hour a week job doing the same thing as Jimbo. She doesn't have a second job, because the effort she has to put out for this job is too much.

Say they both get the same amount of work done, they both reach the same goals.

Does Jimbo deserve to get paid as much as Jane? Remember, Jimbo is making money at a second job at ten hours a week. So he is getting paid there as well.

I think he deserves 3/4 of what she is getting. Equal Pay for equal work. He works 30 hours, he gets paid for the same thirty hours she does, then she gets paid for those extra ten hours she works.

I'm all for Jimbo asking to work another ten hours at the job, and then getting paid to work those hours, thereby reaching the same pay rate as Jane.

So why is Wimbledon succumbing to public pressure and paying the women the same as the men? Trust me, I love tennis and appreciate what goes on on the women's side moreso then the men's side. But until the women play best of five sets, I don't see the argument.

The women are obviously very fit. How come they can't play the best of 5 sets? Well over the majority of the women are physically ok to play their singles matches and then go on and play doubles matches as well. So they have plenty of energy apparently. So the women are supplementing their income with more tournament play in the doubles areas, but wish to also be paid the same in the singles arena as the men.

If anything the women should complain that their physical abilities aren't being respected enough by having them play only best of 3 sets.

Anyone who pays attention to tennis knows that in the lesser tournaments (non Grand Slam) they all play best of 3 sets, men and women. They receive equal pay in those events.

Am I missing something? Someone explain this to me like I am a three year old...

My apologies for the Rowan Atkinson joke in the beginning, and the 'Philadelphia' reference at the end there...I'm a little rusty coming back to the blog.